Azerbaijan’s Economy Expanded 1.6% in First Seven Months of Year

By Zulfugar Agayev -
Aug 14, 2012

Azerbaijan, the third-largest oil
producer in the former Soviet Union, said its economy expanded
1.6 percent in the first seven months of the year.

The Caspian Sea nation’s non-oil economy grew 10.5 percent
in the period from a year earlier, while the value of oil
production fell 6 percent, the State Statistics Committee said
today on its website.

Oil prices have dropped 5.8 percent this year in New York
as slowing global growth erodes demand for fuel. Azerbaijan has
relied on other industries, such as construction, to boost its
economy, which all but ground to a halt last year as oil output
fell 10 percent.

Inflation ran at 2 percent in January through July, the
statistics committee said today.

The biggest oil producer in the former Soviet Union is
Russia, followed by Kazakhstan.